diff --git a/components/l4d2-web-app/src/l4d2web/app.py b/components/l4d2-web-app/src/l4d2web/app.py
index a6ddc4f..4919230 100644
--- a/components/l4d2-web-app/src/l4d2web/app.py
+++ b/components/l4d2-web-app/src/l4d2web/app.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ from l4d2web.routes.blueprint_routes import bp as blueprint_bp
 from l4d2web.routes.auth_routes import bp as auth_bp
 from l4d2web.routes.overlay_routes import bp as overlay_bp
 from l4d2web.routes.server_routes import bp as server_bp
+from l4d2web.services.job_worker import recover_stale_jobs
 
 
 def create_app(test_config: dict[str, object] | None = None) -> Flask:
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ def create_app(test_config: dict[str, object] | None = None) -> Flask:
     app.register_blueprint(blueprint_bp)
     app.register_blueprint(server_bp)
     register_cli(app)
+    recover_stale_jobs()
 
     @app.get("/health")
     def health():
diff --git a/components/l4d2-web-app/src/l4d2web/services/job_worker.py b/components/l4d2-web-app/src/l4d2web/services/job_worker.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..be6a7ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/l4d2-web-app/src/l4d2web/services/job_worker.py
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+from dataclasses import dataclass, field
+from datetime import UTC, datetime
+
+from sqlalchemy import select
+
+from l4d2web.db import session_scope
+from l4d2web.models import Job
+
+
+@dataclass
+class SchedulerState:
+    install_running: bool = False
+    running_servers: set[int] = field(default_factory=set)
+
+
+def can_start(job, state: SchedulerState) -> bool:
+    if job.operation == "install":
+        return (not state.install_running) and (len(state.running_servers) == 0)
+    if state.install_running:
+        return False
+    if job.server_id is None:
+        return False
+    return job.server_id not in state.running_servers
+
+
+def recover_stale_jobs() -> int:
+    now = datetime.now(UTC)
+    with session_scope() as db:
+        jobs = db.scalars(select(Job).where(Job.state == "running")).all()
+        for job in jobs:
+            job.state = "failed"
+            job.finished_at = now
+            job.updated_at = now
+        return len(jobs)
diff --git a/components/l4d2-web-app/tests/test_job_worker.py b/components/l4d2-web-app/tests/test_job_worker.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f4f8b67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/l4d2-web-app/tests/test_job_worker.py
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+
+import pytest
+
+from l4d2web.services.job_worker import SchedulerState, can_start, recover_stale_jobs
+
+
+@dataclass
+class DummyJob:
+    operation: str
+    server_id: int | None = None
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def worker_fixture(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    from l4d2web.app import create_app
+    from l4d2web.db import init_db
+
+    db_url = f"sqlite:///{tmp_path/'worker.db'}"
+    monkeypatch.setenv("DATABASE_URL", db_url)
+    app = create_app({"TESTING": True, "DATABASE_URL": db_url, "SECRET_KEY": "test"})
+    init_db()
+
+    class WorkerFixture:
+        def run_once(self):
+            state = SchedulerState()
+
+            state.running_servers.add(1)
+            same_server_parallel = can_start(DummyJob(operation="start", server_id=1), state)
+
+            different_servers_parallel = can_start(DummyJob(operation="start", server_id=2), state)
+
+            install_parallel = can_start(DummyJob(operation="install", server_id=None), state)
+
+            return {
+                "same_server_parallel": same_server_parallel,
+                "different_servers_parallel": different_servers_parallel,
+                "install_parallel": install_parallel,
+            }
+
+        def recover_stale_jobs(self):
+            with app.app_context():
+                return recover_stale_jobs()
+
+    return WorkerFixture()
+
+
+def test_same_server_jobs_serialized(worker_fixture) -> None:
+    result = worker_fixture.run_once()
+    assert result["same_server_parallel"] is False
+
+
+def test_different_servers_can_run_parallel(worker_fixture) -> None:
+    result = worker_fixture.run_once()
+    assert result["different_servers_parallel"] is True
+
+
+def test_install_global_exclusive(worker_fixture) -> None:
+    result = worker_fixture.run_once()
+    assert result["install_parallel"] is False
+
+
+def test_recover_stale_running_jobs(worker_fixture) -> None:
+    recovered = worker_fixture.recover_stale_jobs()
+    assert recovered >= 0